Adding a tougher 3rd tier of bounties for Barovia

[tylernwn]

The premise of this idea, is to add another layer of bounties onto the existing ones in Barovia. This new tier of bounties should feature more difficult enemies to give the (fun) bounty system some more variety. This is for the bounties in Barovia only.

So we currently have two tiers of bounties in Barovia, that are posted on the Vallaki notice board:
1. Bandit leader (500 coins) - Bandits: rogues level 2
2. Stronger Bandit Leader (1100 coins). - Bandits: rogues level 2

To futher diversify this system, I think we should add a third tier of bounties. So without changing too much, we could mix up this formula with stronger bandits, stronger bandit leaders, and perhaps a few bodyguards to spawn with said bandit leaders.

Here is a sample idea:
Name: xxxx
Bounty: 1600 coins
Habitat: Same as current bounties.
Bandit Leader HD: Barbarian (8 )
Lackeys/Bandits: Bandit Marksman [Rogue (4)], Brute [Barbarian (3)] : the levels and types of the bandits that inhabit the cave with the bandit leader
Final encounter: The bandit lord is surrounded by 3 bodyguards (who are each level 6 fighters) and a bandit mage (level 5 wizard) who spawn with the bandit leader, to enhance it's difficulty.

So to summarize, the key components of this new tie of bounties are:
1. Stronger and more varied bandits/trash mobs for the stronger spawn.
2. A stronger bounty target, with different class levels.
3. A body guard contingent for the bounty target.

These are my thoughts on how to add a new and exciting tier of bounties to Barovia. However any kind of third tier would likely be exciting.

[EO]

Western Barovia is for lower levels so adding stronger and more rewarding bounties would go against that objective.

[tylernwn]

What about using an existing spawn? There are some powerful spawns in western barovia (vampires, ogres), but the only bounties that you will ever see are for the weaker bandits.

So what about adding a bounty to an already existing spawn in the vicinity, like the ogres? For example, a named ogre could be added to the ogre spawn in the sullen woods once in a while (maybe in 1/15 ogre spawns), and said ogre could have a bounty on his/her head. It would otherwise be the same spawn and encounter as normal, with just one added reason to go raid the cave.

However if there isn’t much player interest in vamping up the bounty system, that is another story.

[SardineTheAncestor]

Some diversification would be nice to incentivise party play, but there's already bandit bounties that can threaten a party of level 5s. One of them has like 20 bandits or more in a single room with plenty of ranged attackers. Like you said, they're still the easier fights. People say there's a problem with higher levels coming in and nuking all of the bounties/low level dungeons already, but there are dungeons out there which can be remarkably dangerous for levels 8 to 11 depending on who you have with you and if you properly prepare.

If you need harder dungeons than that, there are others further from Vallaki. I've seen level 12-14 characters struggle to survive in the Baratak, Ghakis, and Dvergeheim dungeons. I could name 5 or more dungeons there where someone around the RP XP limit can still benefit from adventuring there, but would rather people found them on their own to preserve that sense of discovery. They may not have bounties in them but that's one thing keeping high levels from returning to them too frequently and in my opinion it should stay that way or the complaints are just going to get worse as high levels start to tour these areas even more when the more lucrative bounties elsewhere in the world are all taken up, just like they have to return to areas near Vallaki to find the crafting resources they need, even at the end of crafting progression.

[zDark Shadowz]

Adding stronger bounties to existing spawns sounds like a great idea, it'll be fun to see groups of level 6s suddenly come across an invidian captain in vallaki forest.

[Destinysdesire]

Stronger bounties would be good....if they were in like the Village of Barovia....away from Vallaki.

[tylernwn]

Adding stronger bounties to existing spawns sounds like a great idea, it'll be fun to see groups of level 6s suddenly come across an invidian captain in vallaki forest.

I think you misunderstood this comment. The second idea was to add a bounty to an existing spawn by renaming one of the monsters. So for example if you were fighting a group of ogres, you would take one ogre at level and just rename it to be a bounty. If you were fighting a group of spiders(?), one spider would be renamed to be a bounty, and so on for anything of interest. 

The second part was to not have the bounty be in every spawn, so its not grindable.

[Kaninchen]

The named bandits are stronger than regular ones, so naming the ogre/vampire/ect, and making it stronger, would be consistent with that theme.

Seems a decent idea on one hand, but on the other there is a lot of things to do around Vallaki as it. Might be prudent to move some of these things away, to encourage folk exploring further out. 

Possibly give some bounty options from the Wochter, or VoB areas, if there aren't any currently. Although there is already a lot of content in VoB to be explored.  *scratches chin*

[PrimetheGrime]

I don't really agree with the need for stronger bounties, especially in Vallaki. From a non mechanical stand point, Vallakis populace is far from wealthy, nor would they care much about Ogres or other monsters. Aside from the lore perspective however as EO mentioned, Vallaki is meant for lower levels. That's the reason there are so many low level or 'weak' enemies around the area. If anywhere were to be given bounties, I would suggest outside of Barovia to incentivize folk roaming the core. Vampires aren't meant to be something you just go and fight at a whim, they're the undisputed big dog when it comes to undeath. Personally I think the current Vampires in tergs should be renamed to Vampire spawn, but that's for a different thread. There are bounties already situated to the Tergs, Monastery, sewers and Bandit caves, alongside multiple dungeons that give out a hefty reward if you're able to complete it. In short, there's plenty of monetary compensation in Vallaki already, I think some other zones could use the love more.

[tylernwn]

It might help to address why I am making this suggestion. There are three reasons:
1. The bounties have little variation: Same enemies every time, with the same general set up.
2. The challenge of the bounties is out of sync with its target level: I'm not sure what the target level is, but even a level 4 will get no xp from killing the bandits and bandit archers found in the bounty caves. Any party lower than this however, is looking at a party wipe from the activity.
3. The whole bounty adventure gives plenty of cash, but very little experience: Only the target, and quest reward give any experience. The trash mobs do not. The experience reward is also quite small from both of these sources.

Perhaps my suggestion for tougher bounties doesn't meet existing criteria for the area, but it does seem like some of these things could be tweaked for a better overall experience. For example with:
1. More flavors of low level bandits.
2. Toned down enemies and bounty characters to fit level 2-3s, or toned up enemies (but not bounty characters) to fit level 4-5s.
3. Toned up enemies (trash mobs that can give xp)

The spirit of these points, is what I was trying to address with higher level bounties. However this looks like it would be very low priority, and there isn't any solid community support for it. So I think this idea has ran its course.